New device can save people suffering from memory losses!

Soon a device will be made which can help to restore your memory.Yes,you heard me right.DARPA(Defense Advance Research Project) have awarded a sum of 2.5 million dollar to Lawrence Livermore National Laborartory(LLNL) to make this implantable device which will have the ability to record and stimulate the neurons within the brain to help restore memory.The news have been recently announced.
The research will build up upon the theory that Memory is a process in which the neuron transmits or encodes signals at a particular regions of the brain,where it also store the information and retrieve it aswell.
But there are certain types of disease like Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI) or Alzheimer's Disease which generally disrupt this process and hence results in a memory loss.

What is this Device?
So,What (LLNL) researchers will do is that they will create this neural device which can uses real time recording and close-loop stimulation of neural tissues to bridge gaps in the injured brain and restores one individuals capability to access the old memories or to create one new memory.But for these the researcher first have to develop a new electronic system which can be named as neuromodulation system whose prime objective would be to find those areas of the brain which is linked with the memory so that they can find the information that where the new memories are formed.

How the Device will work?
The neural device that they are basically planning to develop is a miniature,wireless and chronically implantable one which will incorporate both single neuron and local field potential recording into a close loops system to implant into the TBI patient's brain.Generally the device will be implanted into the entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus part of the brain as because this two regions of the brain generally associates with memories.After the device is implanted it will allow to stimulate neural signal from the 64 channels of located on a pair of high density electrode arrays.

This arrays will be connected to the implantable electronic package capable of wireless data and power telemetry.An external device worn out of the ear will retrieve the digital signals associated with the memory storage and provide power telemetry to implantable package using a custom R-F coil system.The device's electrodes will be integrated with advance LLNL's integration and 3-D packaging technologies.While the micro-electrodes which will be the heart of this device will be embedded  in a bio-compatible flexible
polymer.

Will the project be a success? 
Well, the researchers have taken this project from DARPA as a challenge and no doubt that they have enough potential to make this device a reality as previously they have lots of experience in making this type of micro-devices and their work on Restoring Active Memory programme has been so far a brilliant run of success.LLNL also supports President Obama's Brain Research Organization through advance neural technologies.So,hope this project becomes a success and become a good news for those people who are suffering from Memory loss diseases.

                                                                                                                                  Anuttam Chatterjee